How to succeed as an alcohol brand in the e-commerce space
Hi, I’m Devaraj Southworth, CEO and Co-founder of Thirstie, and I’m going to share how alcohol brands can thrive and succeed in the e-commerce space today.
E-commerce as an avenue for sales is a vital part of every business, especially in the alcohol space, where it’s been growing by 10% year over year. Now, in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic and with on-premise sales shut down, alcohol brands need to be utilizing all e-commerce options available in order to fulfill consumer demand.
Thirstie is a technology solution that enables consumers to order wine, beer, and spirits directly from the alcohol brand websites, something that was previously impossible due to the three-tiered system.
Let’s review three items on how your alcohol brand can succeed in this space.
The first bit of advice we give to all the alcohol brands we counsel is speed to market. There are solutions out there that take months, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital and resources to build something that can allow brands to fully participate in e-commerce. And all that time, your customers are shopping elsewhere.
At Thirstie, our Access solution is specifically designed to get your e-commerce storefront up, live, and connected to our national retail network in a week’s time, ensuring you can quickly and efficiently start selling products online while also interacting with your loyal consumers.
The next bit of advice I routinely offer to all of the alcohol brands I work with is to prioritize on-site checkouts. I speak to so many alcohol brands that think they’re all set just by putting a “store locator” on their website or linking out to a third-party marketplace. Don’t get me wrong; third-party marketplaces serve a purpose and are a part of making your products available. But you want to ensure your products are available via every avenue available, including a check-out option directly from your branded website. In fact, the history of e-commerce has proven time and time again that giving consumers the ability to check-out directly from your website is the optimal consumer behavior.
Think of it this way: Let’s say I wanted to buy a pair of Nike basketball shoes. There are a couple different ways Nike will enable me to purchase them. I can go to a store, like Wal-Mart or Target, and hope they have my size in stock. I can also go to a third-party site, like Amazon or eBay, and purchase from them. However what Nike is hoping I will do is go to Nike.com, and order directly from their storefront. This way, Nike is getting all of the data and analytics on me as a consumer, helping them to make more informed marketing decisions going forward. If I go to Wal-Mart or Amazon to buy my Nike shoes, Nike doesn’t get access to this valuable data.
The third piece of advice we give alcohol brands we work with is listen to the data. Once you’ve prioritized on-site checkouts, you’re going to start seeing a lot of consumer behavior data, giving you insight into your customer base you’ve never had access to before.
Because alcohol brands haven’t had an e-commerce direct-to-consumer option previously, they’ve been missing out on valuable consumer insights. Once you’re empowered with these types of analytics, you’ll be able track sources of traffic to determine the effectiveness of all your marketing campaigns. You as the brand are now able to analyze the purchasing journey and optimize your calls to action. And you’ll be able to monitor user data and purchase history as a means to re-engage with your customers.
Thirstie’s mission is to democratize the industry, and we’re the only e-commerce solution that provides spirits, wine, and beer brands with complete control over their consumer interaction through a branded online shopping experience. Our solution is also by far the most affordable on the market, which gives smaller, independent brands access to the same technology the major players are using to jump start their e-commerce programs.
If you would like to see me deliver a talk about this very subject, here’s a video.
I’m Devaraj Southworth, CEO and Co-founder of Thirstie. Let us know if we can help, but more importantly please stay safe.
Always,
Devaraj
Devaraj Southworth, CEO & Co-Founder
